HOLMES BEACH – Steve Oelfke, Jessica Patel and Terry Schaefer won city commission seats in the city election that concluded this evening.
According to the unofficial election results posted at the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office website at 8 p.m., Oelfke received 753 votes (32.41%), Patel received 635 votes (27.34%), Schaefer received 498 votes (21.44%) and incumbent Carol Soustek received 437 votes (18.81%). Voter turnout was 40.77%, with 901 ballots cast.
The top three vote-getters earned two-year terms in office. If the election results are certified on Friday, Nov. 7 as expected, Oelfke, Patel and Schaefer will be sworn in by City Clerk Stacey Johnston when the commission meets on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.
According to Assistant Supervisor of Elections Sharon Stief, there were 2,210 registered voters in Holmes Beach as of election day and 496 voters requested vote-by-mail ballots for the city election. Per state law, vote-by-mail ballot requests no longer carry over from the previous election cycle and a new ballot request must be submitted for each election cycle.
The Holmes Beach election was the only election in Manatee County this fall.
Schaefer, a retired bank executive, was first elected to the city commission in 2019 and he was also re-elected in 2021, 2023 and now again in 2025.
In February, Oelfke, a skilled nursing facility administrator and a planning commissioner at the time, was appointed to fill the commission seat vacated by long-time commissioner Pat Morton. He will now serve his first elected term in office.
Patel, a creator and executive director for a non-profit organization and a former journalist, was a first-time candidate and will serve her first term in office.
Soustek, a retired corporate accountant, was appointed to the commission in 2014 and was elected to serve two-year terms in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
View the election results at the Supervisor of Elections website.
